Monday Musings on Service

Yesterday our lesson was on service. I think it’s very true that the more you serve, the deeper you become as a person. It just gives you an opportunity to see what others are going through, and being able to help makes you a happier person. I’m a huge fan of service.

But something really struck me yesterday… and the lady said you should just do what you can.

I have a dear friend who had JUST moved into a new ward, and had a C-section but was called right after she returned home to bring a meal to someone else. That’s right, fresh surgery, with a new baby and made a meal. I’m 90% sure that part of it was that she’d like to have a nice story to share later on. And she’s right, it IS a great story… but how often do we end up doing things like this?

I’ve been FA-reaking out as I try to haul a casserole and 3 kids to a friend (I’m hauling the casserole, not giving her my children… that isn’t service). Is it worth it? Possibly. I think there are many benefits to service, especially as you involve your children…. and heavens knows a meal can be a Godsend to new moms and those in need.

But I think the main part is to do what you can.

When we take ACLS and CPR classes, we’re always cautioned to take assessment of ourselves, and that we can’t save someone else if we aren’t around to save them. Aka, if someone’s in a puddle with an electrical wire, you don’t jump in there… you have to save yourself first.

I think this can fit well into how service should be incorporated into our lives.

This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t kind of push ourselves. But we need to know our limits.

Last week I had a pretty stressful week, and I had a couple queries for service. The week actually came to a head on Friday being one of my top 10 most stressful days of all time (I will have more posts on that day later). I just had to know when to pull back…. to do what I could.

So, what can you do today? Can you add an extra thing, and if not — can you not feel guilty about that?

Comments

I think that’s the hardest part about service for a lot of people. Deciding where that line is. Some days that don’t seem hard for one person may be difficult for others. Knowing when to say no is a good thing, knowing when to do it anyway even though you want to say no is tricky.

For some reason one of the comments that was most interesting to me was when someone mentioned that it’s easier to help those we like, or that “cute new mom” than to help those we don’t know well, or whose company we don’t particularly enjoy. That kind of service can be hard, and walking away feeling good instead of used, can be tricky.

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